beBit Exploring the City? Looking back at the "Otemachi and Marunouchi Heuristic" event!
Hello, I’m Kaede from the DMC (Department of Marketing & Communications).
I’d like to share with everyone a report on the Otemachi/Marunouchi Heuristic event, an internal event held on Friday, October 6th, 2023, which was informative, interesting, and top-notch!
日本語の記事はこちらから！
■An invitation from Fujii-san, in his #times Slack channel
In early October, Fujii-san posted an invitation to this event in his Slack channel (#times_yasufumi_fujii)
A heuristic review, generally speaking, refers to an analysis method in which a UX specialist actually uses a website or application to discover its problems and help improve it. Fujii-san’s proposal this time was to do the same with a city.
In short, it was a gathering to think about what could be done to make areas more attractive from the perspective of people who work and dine in the city.
The method was quite simple.
We explored the Otemachi and Marunouchi areas, identifying attractive spots and areas in need of improvement
Once we found one, we took photos and uploaded them to a Slack channel (channel name: #heuristic_大丸有) with comments
While I am still learning about UX, I thought I could participate and provide a perspective of a person who comes to the area often.
As I mentioned in the beginning, I am going to talk about how the city heuristic event was informative, interesting, and top-notch, and how everyone should participate.
I will write about the three key reasons for my positive impression of the event below.
You will be able to find interesting points of the city you never realized before
You will be exposed to UX perspectives
Solving little “mysteries” within the city
■You will be able to find interesting points of the city you never realized before
It’s always fun to discover hidden spots and events a little off the beaten path.
During this event, we discovered many new things that were just a short distance away from our office.
For example, the lunch terrace on the 2nd floor of the Otemachi Financial City.
It faces the street, but the tables are shaded by greenery, creating a private, closed, and relaxed atmosphere. It’s the perfect place for those looking for a space to take a short break alone, and was almost full at the time of our event. However, googling “Otemachi Financial City Lunch Terrace” turned up no results about this location. It’s truly a hidden spot!
Marunouchi is also famous for its artistic development. There are many art events that take place here, such as the Marunouchi Street Gallery on Naka-dori street.
The following picture shows an installation called “Slow art Collective Tokyo” exhibited at Tokyo Biennale 2023, which we came across next to the Tokyo Sankei Building during my research.
As this piece of art blended into this artistic city, I witnessed two women who were unaware of what was going on walking by, saying “Looks like there’s a festival going on”.
If awareness spreads, there may be more individuals visiting this area as well!
■Being exposed to UX perspectives
For beginners in UX, like myself, it can be challenging to grasp the perspective of seasoned professionals and know where to start.
In this heuristic review, I was able to hear the findings of the members accompanying me and receive photos of the views seen by the others, so I found it very easy to understand what points to focus on.
For example, this plaza. Fujii-san and Takahashi-san, a consultant, looked into this spot, wondering if it could be utilized as a lunch spot and potentially having kitchen cars or other vehicles stop here.
However, examining this spot from the perspective of a person eating lunch reveals several reasons why it is not a good lunch spot.
The chairs are designed for individual seating, requiring one to balance their food on their lap or hold it in their hands while eating
As the space is very open, it may be difficult to concentrate on eating while being in the line of sight of many people
Surrounded by buildings, the area receives little sunlight and has strong winds. It can be a bit chilly depending on the season
Exhaust gas drifts in, as it is right by the road
I was able to experience beBit’s thought process by using all five senses in real time through sitting in these seats and simulating eating lunch in this location.
■Solving little “mysteries” within the city
During the day, Otemachi/Marunouchi, especially the Naka-dori street, was crowded with people. At night, people vanished from the streets and office buildings, making it look a little emptier than it is in the afternoon.
Many of the people who spent their daytime in Otemachi/Marunouchi are employees working in the area, so they seemed to gather at restaurants or go straight home after work.
Walking around at night, we found many strange locations that made me wonder, “why is this space here?”
If the event had only taken place during the nighttime, all of these spaces may have seemed meaningless or useless.
In fact, during lunchtime, there were many locations where the purpose was unclear, but if we take a look during rush hour, we might be able to see what the locations were actually made for.
I felt that one of the exciting aspects of the heuristic review of the city is that following people’s actions along with the timeline reveals some surprising facts.
■In conclusion
Next time, there may be an early morning heuristic event as well. How exciting!
If you want to find out more about what the city you work in has to offer, if you want to further develop your UX senses, or if you potentially like solving puzzles, I highly recommend this event.
To stay informed about upcoming events, make sure to join the #times_yasufumi_fujii Slack channel.
You’ll also be able to read many interesting posts that aren’t about internal events as well!
